Famed Swansea banquet house celebrates 50 years of weddings, proms and star-studded gatherings

Sunday

Sep 26, 2010 at 12:01 AM

The Venus de Milo in Swansea is celebrating 50 years of hosting large banquets and small dinners that have created a cornucopia of fond memories for thousands of families across southeastern Massachusetts and Rhode Island.

CURT BROWN

The Venus de Milo in Swansea is celebrating 50 years of hosting large banquets and small dinners that have created a cornucopia of fond memories for thousands of families across southeastern Massachusetts and Rhode Island.

Monte C. Ferris Sr., the 59-year-old sole owner of the restaurant, said during their 50 years they have probably hosted more than 10,000 weddings, between 700 and 800 high school proms and an endless number of political rallies and civic and community functions.

During those 50 years, he said, the likes of the late President John F. Kennedy and the late U.S. Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, Jr., as well as headline entertainers such as Frank Sinatra and athletes such as Bobby Orr and Bill Russell, newsmen Warren Cronkite and Tom Brokaw have all been at the Venus at one time or another.

Ferris said they once had a retirement party for a Rhode Island political figure at the Venus that attracted about 3,200 people — which remains the largest function they have ever hosted.

As part of its anniversary celebration, the Venus de Milo hosted a private dinner this past Wednesday night for corporate clients to thank them for their support.

And to think that back in 1960 when the Venus opened, it was primarily a 20-lane duckpin bowling alley known as the Swansea Bowlaway, and secondly, a lounge and banquet room to accommodate bowling banquets.

The Venus later went strictly to the hospitality business out of necessity in the late 1960s, sometime after a tenpin bowling alley opened in nearby Somerset, capturing about 70 percent of the leagues at the Venus.

Janice George, a lifelong friend of Monsour Ferris, Monte's father and the founder of the Venus who died in 1999, gave the restaurant its name. She wanted it to reflect the beauty and spirit of the Greek goddess of love. Her name was Aphrodite, but the Romans called her Venus. Venus de Milo is the famous armless sculpture said to depict Venus that is at the Louvre. Her likeness graces the entrance to the restaurant.

Ferris said "the turning point" for the Venus was when his father agreed to do business with David Sardinha, the owner of David's Fish Market in Fall River, despite his concerns that the fish market was too small to provide the Venus with both the quality and quantity of fresh seafood it needed.

In a test, Sardinha dispelled Monsour Ferris' concerns by providing 600 scrod without one scale. Ferris agreed to Sardinha's request to hire Portuguese employees and they began doing business together.

The Venus then won acceptance and became recognized in the Portuguese community as the place to hold weddings, receptions and other functions.

"The Venus has been built on the backs of the Portuguese," Ferris said. "They have been a huge part of our success."

Ferris said the story behind the story of their famous and award-winning minestrone soup rests in his father's decision to hire Joseph DaRosa, the chef who concocted the beefy vegetable soup, away from the former Hotel Mellen in Fall River in the late 1960s.

After tasting the soup at a Chamber of Commerce function in Fall River, Monte Ferris said his father knew he had to have the soup on his menu and he pursued DaRosa until he agreed to come work for him.

DaRosa became the Venus' executive chef and the minestrone soup would become synonymous with the Venus. DaRosa held the position for more than 30 years, retiring in 1986. He died Dec. 28, 2001.

"It's a tribute to Joe the chef," said Ferris, praising DaRosa for all the acclaim the Venus has received from the soup, but also recognizing long-time employees in the Venus' success story in the process.

Ferris said the key to their success has been their ability to control costs without compromising quality. "To do that, you need great employees and we have been blessed with great people," he said.

"You have to serve great quality food and plenty of it, offer guests a great overall customer experience and provide all these things at an incomparable value," he said.

"We have been able to do that in this tough economic period because we have great, caring people who watch out for the details," he said.

One of the Venus's most famous employees is celebrity chef Emeril Lagasse, a Fall River native best known for his Food Network shows, "Emeril Live" and "Essence of Emeril."

Ferris said Lagasse worked in the kitchen at the Venus for about a year, after he graduated from the culinary arts program at Diman Regional Vocational Technical High School, Fall River, and still returns today to see old friends and remember where he started.

"We're proud the Venus was a stepping stone to his success," Ferris said. "Obviously, all the credit goes to him."

Over the years, Lagasse has returned to the Venus about a dozen times. He comes into the office, shakes hands with the staff, and then bam, he's off to the kitchen.

"He doesn't forget where he came from," Ferris said.

The restaurant's service area now stretches from Taunton, Raynham and Brockton to Wareham, to Newport and Coventry and Smithfield, R.I.

Despite a slumping economy that Ferris acknowledges has cut into their business, the Venus remains the popular choice among banquet houses when planning a function for several hundred people. The Venus is currently booked for weddings through December and the first available date is in January.

One of the large functions the Venus hosts every year is The Providence Journal's annual Follies, a 36-year continuous variety show that pokes fun at Rhode Island news and newsmakers and regularly entertains about 1,200 guests.

Bob Kerr, a Journal columnist and for many years the master of ceremonies of the Follies, said they have been approached in the past about holding the event in the Ocean State, since it is a Rhode Island event.

"We can't find another place that can handle that many people and feed them that well," he said.

"They've gone out of their way for us," he said, generously providing sandwiches and food during rehearsals.

Ferris said their recipe for success to serving more than 1,000 hot, tasty meals at the same time is found in having the proper amount of staff and equipment large enough to cook so many dinners at the same time.

"We don't sacrifice on the labor," he said.

He said their goal has always been to give customers in large groups the same attention as if they were "a small party of 2 to 10 people."

Never miss a story

Choose the plan that's right for you.
Digital access or digital and print delivery.